Mary who between May and October 1917 appeared six times
to three shepherd children.
Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to share with you the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Consideration
Two visions of Luke emerge clearly in the reading. First and foremost, the insight that persecution drove missionisation. Then, after the official acceptance of the first Gentile, the missionisation of the Gentiles also continues. Two other things are noticeable. Antioch is a large important city and will become one of the satellite cities from which initiatives are planned independently. Yet through Barnabas, the link with the primordial church in Jerusalem is also well preserved.
FIRST READING Acts 11:19-26
They also addressed the Greeks and proclaimed the Lord Jesus to them.
From the Acts of the Apostles
In those days
they who had been scattered because of persecution,
onward as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch,
while they preached the word only to the Jews.
But there were among them men from Cyprus and Cyrene,
who after their arrival at Antioch also addressed the Greeks
and proclaimed the Lord Jesus to them.
The hand of the Lord was with them
so that a great number accepted the faith
and converted to the Lord.
The rumour of their appearance
also came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem
and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
When this one arrived there
and saw God’s grace
he rejoiced
and exhorted all to remain faithful to the Lord with heart and soul.
He was a good man,
full of the Holy Spirit and faith.
Many people were won to the Lord.
Then he left for Tarsus
to look for Saul.
When he had found him
he brought him to Antioch.
For a full year they took part in the meetings in that church
and taught a large crowd.
It was in Antioch
that the disciples were first called Christians.
INTERLUDIUM Ps. 87(86), 1-3, 4-5, 6-7
Now praise the Lord,
all the nations of the earth (Ps. 117(116), 1a)
His city on the holy mountains:
the Lord loves her.
The gates of Zion much more
than all the tents of Jacob.
How great is what is prophesied of you,
Jerusalem, city of God!
Once Egypt and Babylon will be numbered
to those who worship the Lord.
Yes, Philistines and Tyre and Koes,
they too will become citizens of Zion.
They will then say :my mother is she,
of her we are all born.
And He Himself will declare,
the Most High, the Lord.
He will write in the book of nations :
these also belong there.
Then they will dance and sing :
the source of our life be thou !
ALLELUIA
Alleluia.
Christ rose from the grave
and became a Light to all
whom He redeemed in His blood.
Alleluia.
GOSPEL Jn 10:22-30
I and the Father, We are one.
From the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to
John
In those days
the feast of the dedication of the temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem.
It was winter
and Jesus was holed up in the temple, in the Colonnade of Solomon.
The Jews gathered around Him in a circle
and said to Him :
‘How long wilt Thou keep us in suspense?
‘If Thou art the Messiah
then tell us plainly.’
Jesus answered them in reply :
‘I have told thee
but ye believe it not.
‘The works that I do in the name of My Father ,
they bear witness about Me.
‘But ye believe not ,
because ye are not of My sheep.
‘My sheep listen to My voice
and I know them
and they follow Me.
‘I give them eternal life ;
they shall not perish for ever
and no one will snatch them from Me.
‘For My Father who gave them to Me
Is greater than all ;
and no one can rob anything from My Father’s hand.
‘I and the Father, We are one.’
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Fratelli tutti
Encyclical of
Pope Francis
On brotherhood and social friendship
276. For these reasons, the Church, while respecting the autonomy of the
politics, does not relegate her own mission to the private sphere. On the contrary,
‘it cannot and must not remain on the sidelines’ in building a
better world, nor fail to ‘reawaken the spiritual forces’
which can fertilise the whole of social life. Admittedly, religious
ministers not engage in party politics peculiar to the laity, but they
nor should they renounce the political dimension of existence, which requires
constant attention to the common good and concern for integral
human development. The Church ‘has a public role, which
is not limited to its commitment to care and education’, but which participates
to the ‘support of man and universal brotherhood’.
It does not seek to compete for earthly power, but to offer itself
offer itself as ‘a family among families – that is the Church – that is open to it
open […] to the contemporary world to bear witness to the
faith, hope and love for the Lord and for those whom He prefers
love. A house with open doors. The Church is a house with open doors,
because she is mother’. And like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, ‘we want to
be a Church that serves, that comes out of home, that comes out of her temples, her sacristies
comes to accompany life, to support hope, to be a sign
of unity […] to build bridges, bring down walls,
sow reconciliation’.
To be continued
Every day at 1 am
The Bible text in this edition is taken from The New Bible Translation,
© Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions to the weekdays.
Fratelli tutti official English translation